First off, looking at the packaging, this is basically a re-issue of Diamond Select’s 2006-release of the “prime universe” NCC-1701 Enterprise from The Original Series‘ second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” To that end, there are absolutely no changes made to the box itself! It still lists the ship on the packaging as the U.S.S.Enterprise!

Even the photo of Captain Kirk is of the “prime universe” Kirk – they could have at least applied a photo of “mirror Kirk” on the box. Only discerning collectors would be able to correctly identify this as being the “Mirror, Mirror” Enterprise, since the only thing that indicates that this is the “mirror universe” version is the ship itself.

From the side, it looks very much like the “prime universe” version of the ship. The paint applications for the windows are crisp, the markings are fairly screen-accurate, and where this ship differs from the “prime universe” are the spires emanating from the front of the warp nacelles. This is a nice touch that was a carry-over from the model of the Enterprise used for “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, one that I’m pleased has been duplicated (or recycled) for this release.

However, the color of the ship itself is somewhat inaccurate. While in the original version of “Mirror, Mirror”, stock footage of the Enterprise from previous episodes was primarily used, when the episode was remastered for high-definition, the “mirror universe”‘s Enterprise hull color was re-shaded into more of a gun-metal gray, which is definitely not the case here. Again, this is probably due to this ship being more of a quick re-paint/re-issue of the existing 2006 Enterprise model Diamond Select had already released.

The top view shows us more of the difference between the two universes – the “mirror universe” version prominently demonstrates the I.S.S. markings indicative of the Enterprise in that episode, however, some poetic license appears to have been taken by Diamond Select as they have adorned the primary hull and the warp nacelles with the iconic Terran Empire symbol, which was not present in either the original or remastered versions of the episode.

In addition, the additional markings on the outer edges combined with a slight “rust ring” on the saucer are more indicative of the version of the Enterprise Diamond Select released for “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, further demonstrating that this ship is more of a re-issue.

Looking at the aft section of the ship, we see that the engine nacelles have the correct “grille” pattern applied to them, which is more in-line with the remastered version of the “mirror” Enterprise. In the original episode, as it was simply stock footage, the nacelles retained the spherical ends to them which was applied to the ship after the two pilots were filmed.

Like previous Diamond Select releases, this Enterprise is equipped with lighting effects for the primary hull and a sound chip that reproduces sound effects and dialogue by depressing the bridge dome.

The sound effects include the warp engines engaging, the transporter energizing, the red alert klaxon, photon torpedo and phaser fire as well as a few pieces of dialogue from William Shatner as Kirk saying phrases such as “All weapons to full power” and “Prepare to attack, all hands battle stations” from “Balance of Terror” – all of which are recycled from the previous version of the ship produced by Diamond Select. There is only one piece of dialogue unique from “Mirror, Mirror” included on the chip, that of Kirk’s initial log entry stating that the “mirror” Enterprise is subtly altered from his own.

The ship is also equipped with a stand in the shape of an Enterprise command insignia and a feature that allows the user to run the lights without hearing the sounds – a neat function for display, but, one that would likely run the batteries down if used frequently.

Producing a “mirror universe” Enterprise for collectors is a good idea – “Mirror, Mirror” is one of the most popular episodes of The Original Series, one that spawned countless follow-up episodes in both Deep Space Nine and Enterprise. However, the follow-through by Diamond Select is a bit on the lazy side. With just a little more attention to detail and and care, this could be a highly recommended item for collectors. As it is, it’s merely a lazy repaint of a more iconic ship.

Do yourself a favor – if you’re looking to acquire the original Enterprise for your collection, opt for Diamond Select’s “prime universe” Enterprise, linked below.

I own this ship too. While you still want to have this ship since it’s iconic. Those minor details get you miffed. I really hate the rusted saucer. Also, there’s two versions of the regular enterprise. One is modified to reflect the CGI remaster.

James

Thanks for this review. I’ve been looking for a quality model of the big E for a while now – the small ships from Eaglemoss are pretty good and the larger DST models seem to be only average quality. I’m looking for something a bit larger and more detailed.

I’m one of those people who loves the Enterprise D, does anyone have the version produced by Aoshima. It looks to be a quality collectible that is just within the sort of budget I could justify. Unfortuately, the studio scale replicas are too much for my wallet.

tom_k35

Since the first appearance of the Mirror ship was just unused footage from WNMHGB, this is basically the same ship as DST’s WNMHBG with a slight alteration in decals. I mean, they didn’t even change the packaging. The Mirror universe decals are similar to the ones in the Polar Lights supplied for their snap-together TOS Enterprise way back in 2008: http://www.round2models.com/files/instructions/pol803.pdf

Dr. Cheis

Oof, that price tag…

Diamond Select may do better quality stuff than Playmates, but there’s a reason Playmates ships are the only ones I’ve bought. 🙁